Reading Is Fundamental

As a transitioner, I'm trying to learn as much as possible about hair care in order to grow out and maintain my healthy natural hair. In doing so, I've learned a lot about products. What  makes a good product good? A bad product bad? A misleading product misleading? Well, I can tell you one thing, those jazzed up bottles with the pictures of the sistas who have their flyy hair swangin' in the breeze certainly aren't going to have "I'M THE WORST THING EVER FOR YOUR HAIR" written across them in big bold red letters! Girl, no! Not in this lifetime. People are trying to make money and "black hair care" is where the cash is at! We as "the enlightened" (naturals & transitioners) have to continue to research to figure out what the hidden evils are; the trick bags! As many of you already know, mineral oil and petrolatum are two things that are in the majority of "black hair care" products. In addition to being all up and through in our hair care systems, they're also horrendous for curly/kinky hair which is what is consideredto be "black hair". So how are ingredients like these helping to strengthen and better your hair? Simple, they're not! Mineral oil adds the sheen that curly/kinky hair types lack due to the difficulty that light has bouncing and reflecting off the coils. This adds a healthy look to the hair, very deceptive. Actually, what our hair needs more than anything else is MOISTURE! Mineral oil fails miserably at moisturizing the hair, but instead coats it, leaving the actual hair thirsty for the moisture that you may think you're supplying. Petrolatum, found in many greases is also a wolf in sheep's clothing. I know I speak for many when I say it aint nothing like a good scalp greasing to sooth an itchy, dry scalp. While there has been no scientific confirmation that petrolatum is "bad" for the hair, if used directly on the scalp it can cause the pores to become clogged and thus slow the growing process of your hair. I haven't used greases in my hair in over a year. Mainly, because I didn't like how it weighed my hair down and prevented it from blowing in the wind the way I liked. 

Now I know you all are curious about what else could be lurking in your favorite products and unfortunately it would take a forever to sit and go through every possible ingredient; time that i just don't have hunny! So instead I'll provide you all with a link to an ingredients dictionary that I came across and found to be very helpful! Every since I've began to do my research on what's actually in my products I've become a BOTTLE READER and thrown out a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing! Remember ladies, reading is fundamental! I encourage you all to become BOTTLE READERS as well and learn as much as possible to keep that hair in your scalp and off the floor! 

"I am an avid bottle reader!"-DJ